Kairi Sane
In March 2017, Sane signed a three-year contract with WWE. On June 30, a video at a WWE house show in Tokyo, introduced Sane to WWE's developmental division, NXT, as well as the upcoming Mae Young Classic ''tournament. On July 13, she defeated Tessa Blanchard in the tournament's first round in her WWE debut match. The following day, Sane first defeated Bianca Belair in the second round, then Dakota Kai in quarterfinals and finally Toni Storm in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament. Reportedly, Sane suffered both a concussion and a neck injury during the tapings. On September 12, Sane defeated Shayna Baszler in the tournament finals and thereby earned a shot at the vacant NXT Women's Championship at the next NXT TakeOver show. In October 2017, Sane made her television debut on ''NXT, defeating Aliyah. In November, at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Sane competed in a fatal four–way match for the vacant NXT Women's Championship. but was unsuccessful as Ember Moon won the match. On January 28, 2018, at the Royal Rumble, Sane participated in the first women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 6 and lasting around 5 minutes before being eliminated by Dana Brooke. A few months later, she also participated in the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, alongside other NXT superstars, but was eliminated from the match by Sasha Banks. Shortly after, Sane started a feud with Lacey Evans as the two exchanged victories and attacked each other throughout the next few weeks. Eventually, Sane was able to defeat Evans on the June 6 episode of NXT, in a final match between the two, to end their feud. In July, after she defeated Candice LeRae and Nikki Cross in a triple–threat match to become the number one contender, Sane reignited her rivalry with Shayna Baszler, as the two exchanged victories in the Mae Young Classic Finals and at NXT and faced off in a match at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV on August 18 where Sane was able to defeat Bazsler to win the NXT Women's Championship for the first time in her career. On October 28, at the WWE Evolution pay–per–view, Sane lost the championship back to Baszler (after interference from her allies Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir) ending her reign at 71 days. Three weeks later, at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Sane received her rematch against Baszler in a two out of three falls match, but she failed to regain the title after interference from Duke and Shafir again. Because of the interferences, Sane eventually aligned with her best friend Io Shirai and Dakota Kai against Baszler, Duke and Shafir. Shortly after, Kai was sidelined with an injury and Sane continued to team with Shirai, forming a tag team known as "The Sky Pirates" while continuing to defeat various teams. On April 5, 2019, at NXT TakeOver: New York, Sane competed in a fatal–four way match for the NXT Women's Championship, however, she was unsuccessful in capturing the title as Baszler submitted Bianca Belair to retain. Just six days later, on April 11 (episode aired on tape delay on April 17), Sane lost a rematch to Baszler after Io Shirai attacked Baszler who was looking to injure Sane. Because of her loss, Sane was not allowed to challenge for the NXT Women's Championship anymore, which was a way to write her off the brand. On April 16, 2019, during the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Sane was introduced by Paige to the SmackDown brand where she formed a tag team with Asuka called the Kabuki Warriors, managed by Paige. In her first match as part of the brand, Sane picked up a victory for her team in an eight–woman tag team match. Throughout the following weeks, Sane and Asuka started a feud with The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) over their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. After weeks of dodging by the IIconics, the Kabuki Warriors were granted their title match on the July 16 episode of SmackDown which they won by count out however, the IIconics retained their titles. On the August 5 episode of Raw, the Kabuki Warriors participated in a fatal four way elimination tag team match for the Women's Tag Team Championship but were the last ones eliminated by Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross after Sane got pinned by Bliss. After a short hiatus, The Kabuki Warriors returned in September and defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. On October 6, at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, The Kabuki Warriors finally won the Women's Tag Team Championships from Bliss and Cross, after Asuka used a green mist on Cross. The next night on Raw, The Kabuki Warriors completed their transition into heels, as they cut a promo on both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair and went onto defeat them in a non-title match, once again using green mist as leverage. As part of the 2019 Draft in mid-October, Asuka and Sane were both drafted to the Raw brand. On the October 28 Raw, Sane and Asuka further cemented their heel turn when they turned on their manager Paige after Asuka sprayed green mist in her eyes.Category:NXT Women's Champions Category:Mae Young Classic Winners Category:WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Category:Current Champions Category:Raw Superstars